Festival of Lights

SHINE ON: Astronauts and smoking volcanoes, cheerleaders and aprominent CNN reporter… The IX Festival of Lights brought it all to thestreets of San José Saturday night. The San José Municipality estimatesmore than a million Costa Ricans attended the parade – roughlyone fourth of the country’s population – to be dazzled by the tenfloats, nine bands, dancers and cheerleading teams that lit up thestreets. Scores of children, in hats and scarves to stay warm on thechilly night, could not hide their delight at the sight of the Lion King-inspiredfloat. Barbie, on Librería Universal’s float, had the sameeffect, while others favored the Franklin Chang float, dedicated to theCosta Rican astronaut who waved at the public during the parade.Glenda Umaña, a Costa Rican reporter from CNN en Español, was another guest of honor.